Feb
12
Mediocrity in Thought Process in Digital Signage Content
Filed Under Advertising, Digital Signage, Mobile
OK, OK…I’ve been on a bit of a rant lately about Digital Signage Content. It’s not necessarily fair but, after 11+ years, having not only lived through but having been very involved in both the dotcom boom and the launch of mobile marketing, you start to see patterns and repetition and really bad initial directions that may as well be headed off at the pass. Don’t give up on me just yet….I’m not tainted – it’s just a phase.
Example – From: http://broadcastengineering.com/news/broadcasting_makes_great_digital/
e.g. Ottawa International Airport recently unveiled a 9×12 Panasonic LED display in its arrivals terminal featuring 18 hours of fresh daily news content provided by a dedicated editorial group from the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
“It’s the first thing you see,” said Bill Atkinson, CBC’s executive director of business development, who headed up the Ottawa Airport signage project. “If you go to the airport and are waiting for your bags, you just see people standing there staring at that screen – it’s really captivating.”
…..
“Our news segment is typically seven minutes – the business report takes a couple of minutes, sports a few minutes, entertainment a few and so on. This information is being updated continually so that it’s always current information you’re seeing,” said Atkinson of the Ottawa airport news cycle.
I know everyone in this business has had to have these discussions around “what content should I put on my screens”. Realistically, you should have STARTED with that question but, oh well.
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I’m amazed at how easily people forget what they’ve already lived through and fall back on mediocrity in its stead. You will hear research report after research report tell you that consumers like seeing; news, weather, sports, blah, blah, blah on in-store digital screens but those research reports, in my opinion (again, because I’ve seen it before -twice) are wrong because consumers have no bloody idea what they really expect or want to see on digital signs because they are NEW so they’ll give the first obvious answer that comes into their skulls.
We all have to remember that content isn’t relevant unless it adds VALUE to those consuming it. Riddle me this…how many other of the devices you own already feed you content? Your laptop? Your Phone? Your Blackberry? You are already predisposed to consume news through way more personalized devices than a screen manned by a 25 year old media editor…but it’s news that YOU have chosen is relevant to YOU. It means something. What people tend to forget is the old “Me” Generation. Trendwatching (http://www.trendwatching.com) has some great points on this. So how do you use Digital Signage to AUGMENT that or provide something truely unique?
Here’s a wayback playback to prove a point:
Remember Pointcast?: http://www.businessweek.com/1999/99_17/b3626167.htm? News, weather and sports whenever you want!!! Everyone can get this stuff, fed directly to them on the one place they go every day – their computer! – Well…that lasted 3 years – and I knew some damn smart people working there.
This got replaced by what consumers REALLY wanted (e-commerce, bidding, banking, communication, easier management of services for the home and business, research, alerts, email marketing, etc) – sure news, but they went to the sources they wanted to for news (personalized)…not what was fed to them.
Remember the start of mobile WAP and SMS?: Get sports news, weather and horoscopes right on your mobile! It’s the latest craze! Your phone is on you all the time! Everyone will want this!
Imagine that! This got replaced by what consumers really wanted (m-commerce, banking alerts, contesting, real time voting, mobile mapping, ringtones (I heard that ringtones are a $4 Billion/year industry!!! I’m a little skeptical on that), wallpapers, etc)
See what I mean?
Going to these mainstays is short sighted and unnecessary if you apply some brainpower to it.
So I leave it as a challenge to you all. Is News, weather, sports what consumers really want? More importantly, is it what they NEED? If I’m walking out of that airport in Ottawa, I’m thinking about the cab I have to catch, my meeting, my hotel, where I’m going to have dinner, good bars in the area, the calls I have to make, checking my emails, my girlfriend, the hockey game later on tonight (Not the score from the game last night – I already know that), etc, etc. If you profile the people in front of you properly, you can play to their needs, develop averages and build the right content mix (NOT just advertising) Think of how many crossovers exist in the components I just wrote and how much great content can accompany them!
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Side note: I was interested to see that the CBC has a “dedicated editorial team” for this medium. That seems productive…let’s build an autonomous network and then throw in a human stop gap. Technology exists for this type of filtering…made in Canada? maybe? 18 hours of content means at least 2 if not 4 people running the show for that one location – 80,000 – 160,000 in salary (assuming 40K average each).
I’m glad my tax dollars are being used so productively.
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[...] added some blogs to my blogroll, and Rob at Advertise Here! posted about the Mediocrity in Thought Process in Digital Signage Content. An excerpt: We all have to remember that content isn’t relevant unless it adds VALUE to those [...]
yes, the screens at Pearson Airport in Toronto — also a CBC thing — are equally hopeless and wrongheaded.
How about, if I am sitting in a departure lounge waiting for my flight to Vancouver, showing me content on where to eat, drink and play and stay in Vancouver???
And when that plane pushes off and that gate is instead sending people to Atlanta, change the content to stuff about Atlanta – that’s actually relevant to what I am about to be doing?
that would require 10 more 25 year old media editors at taxpayers expense
Agreed! Dave! Even if it’s content from Atlanta’s tourism department and not just ads – they already have a wack of video content!
I’ve got to point back to Mochilla again (http://digitalads.wordpress.com/2007/01/18/digital-signage-content-exchange/), or at least providers LIKE them:
Even if the content isn’t arduous to maintain and is national instead of regionalized, what about running a spot, sponsored by Chrylser, from Car and Driver that is 3rd party content about a Chrylser Car or even “Good Car Care”?
It’s important to note that “targeting” doesn’t always mean “relevant”. I need to write another blog post on this.
[...] and shaping content and capabilities on Digital Signage. I whined a bunch on another post HERE that not enough thought was given to what content goes on Digital Signage and we’re only [...]
[...] Mediocrity in thought process in Digital Signage Content [...]
[...] recently extolling the idea that consumers sit around for countless hours mindlessly watching that oh-so-engaging Digital Signage content that’s out there, some less partisan studies I’ve been privy to actually support the idea that SOME viewership [...]
[...] That way we could get beyond the generic, value-deficient content that existed at least as early as last Feb in some of our airports and add more value to the patrons while they wait- See here and Dave Hayne’s comment on what COULD be below the post [...]
[...] http://www.robgorrie.com/2007/02/12/mediocrity-in-thought-process-in-digital-signage-content/ [...]